Adam Jeffery, one of the original Y-Team members at Hope Support Services, has recently become a Trustee of the Ross-on-Wye based charity.
Adam, who is now 24, first became involved with Hope when he was 17, after he lost his mum to cancer. He said that as far as he knew, there was not any support offered to teenagers after a family member was either diagnosed with, or died from a terminal illness.
About six months after he lost his mum, St Michael’s Hospice put him and his sisters in touch with Sue Trevethan, who had very recently founded Hope, and Adam became a member of the first ever Y-Team (Youth Management Team). This group consisted of other young people who had also been through a family health crisis themselves, and who were determined to use their experiences to help others.
Adam told the Gazette that by becoming a member of the Y-Team, he was able to focus on something other than his loss. “I wanted to help young people in similar situations,” he said. “Essentially my work with Hope has given me a career. At college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but now I’m going in to youth work.”
Adam was involved as a member of the Herefordshire Y-Team for a couple of years, until he went to university. But when he returned home to Ledbury, during term breaks, he would continue volunteering with Hope.
Now a Trustee, Adam is optimistic about his new role. He told the Gazette: “I can represent young people’s view, but on a Trustee scale.”
Clare Thomas, CEO, told the Ross Gazette: "Adam has been with Hope from the beginning, first as one of Hope’s young people, then as a member of the Youth Management Team, then as an intern youth worker and now as a trustee.
"Adam’s journey with Hope demonstrates what Hope is all about – it gives support to young people through a period of crisis in their lives and helps them to make something positive out of a very negative time.”
To find out more about Hope Support Services, visit: www.hopesupport.org.ukTo read the full article, see this week's edition of the Ross Gazette.